


The Cliff by the Sea

by Minhyunho



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Child EXO, Family Fluff, Fluff, Inspired by Ponyo (2008), M/M, Male Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-13
Updated: 2018-10-13
Packaged: 2019-08-01 07:55:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16280621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Minhyunho/pseuds/Minhyunho
Summary: Sehun sees the moon as it filters through the water and finds it beautiful.





	The Cliff by the Sea

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jeobyeol](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jeobyeol/gifts).



The creation process was always his favorite part. When he was younger he was fascinated with the way his father was able to see glimpses of animals from the past, and recreate them for the here and now. Now though, he appreciated how lost in the art his father got when he was creating fish or other sea life. It meant that Sehun and his siblings were able to sneak away from their room and were able to explore the wide open ocean that surrounded them.

 

Sehun had remembered the first time he was able to sneak away and was subsequently found near a human settlement.

 

He had gotten stuck in a net that was down on the bottom in some rocks, and no matter how hard he tried to swim in either direction away from the rope, it only got tighter, and was causing Sehun pain whenever he got too far away. That was how his father, Heechul, had found him and that was the first time Sehun had seen his father mad.

After that day, Heechul was more vocal about his hatred for humans, and how their pollution of the oceans would be their downfall.

 

Sehun was older now, stronger, and wiser in the contraptions that humans had left in the ocean. His favorite things to find were the objects that reminded Sehun of jellyfish, the white opaque objects that sometimes has other streaks of colors on it.

 

Jellyfish were his favorite sea animals. When he was first born, he was able to lay on the backs on the jellyfish, and watch the way the light filtered throughout the water, as the calm rocking motions of the jellyfish were able to lull him to sleep.

 

However, now Sehun was older, and his fingers were the only thing able to lay on the tops of the jellyfish. Listening to the chatter of his siblings Sehun sat back and laid his head over his arms, wondering if he should actually go through with his plan to see the moon at the surface, or if it was too dangerous like his father said.

 

As the chattering of his siblings got louder, Sehun looked over and noticed that his siblings were all crowded around the door trying to push their way through. Swimming over, a couple of Sehun’s sibling began to separate the crowd to push Sehun through the door first. His siblings weren’t old enough to receive names so to distinguish themselves from the other, the ones who pulled Sehun to the front called themselves Sehunie, Sehuna, and Sehunya. Swimming to the front, Sehun looked around trying to figure out why everyone was crowding the door.

 

“Sehun, Father hasn’t been home at all today, and we were thinking that now would be a good time to go explore!” One of his siblings said excitedly, as the others joined chattering about their day.

 

Sehun smiled. Until Sehun’s brothers and sisters were old enough to drink the potion their father had made to reveal their true forms, all Sehun’s brothers and sisters looks like young goldfish, their human features making them look more like frogs than the merfolk they will become.

 

“Are you sure that he’s going to stay gone for a while?” Sehun asked Sehunya.

 

“Yes! We can go out and explore, and see all the new fish father has created, and maybe we can even see the dolphins and whales as they swim by!” Sehunya answered, getting so excited they swam in circles.

 

“Hmm, well as long as you think that you will be safe, I think it should be okay. I think I’ll go exploring too then!” Sehun smiled, and started swimming out towards the ocean. Looking back he watched as his brothers and sisters swam out, giggling at how they looked like a little red wave leaving the home.

 

Swimming towards the surface, Sehun had felt an adrenaline rush like he had never felt before. He knew that his father would never approve, and if he got caught he’d be in even more trouble, but his obsession with the moon and how it appeared in the water was too strong. 

* * *

 

When Junmyeon woke up, he heard the rushed sounds of his mother getting ready. Rolling over, he groaned and scratched his stomach before getting out of bed and slowly getting ready for the day, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He knew he was going to regret staying up so late, but his mother had given him his birthday gift early, and he was on his way to making his town in Stardew Valley the best town the citizens had ever seen!

 

“Junmyeon we need to hurry! I’m already late!” Yoona,Junmyeon’s mother yelled.

Sighing Junmyeon rummaged through the clothing that was in his clean clothes pile, and then smelt them to make sure they really were clean. Sighing, he looked at them, and thought about whether or not he should pick up the clean clothes really quick, and then decided like usual to just put it off until later.

 

“Mom we wouldn’t be running late if you would just wake up on time.” Junmyeon called to his mother, pulling his shirt and then pants on, while smoothing his hair back.

 

Yoona walked towards Junmyeon’s door and stared at him. “Is the pot calling the kettle black today or do I need to clean my ears?” Junmyeon smiled and blushed.

“Yeah but it’s not my fault, my townspeople needed me to stimulate the economy.” Junmyeon whined.

 

“Come on Junmyeon let’s go before we are even more late.” Yoona said, slapping Junmyeon’s door on her way out.

 

“Mom, I don’t know about you but I don’t want to be in people’s faces today without brushing my teeth!” Yoona made an abrupt turn towards the bathroom and waved her finger at Junmyeon.

 

“You may have won this war, but the battle is still going on!” 

* * *

 

There were a lot of draw backs to living on the island, as opposed to the mainland. All the entertainment that came to the island was usually outdated and if anything new did come to the island, it was more expensive than Junmyeon or his family would have been able to afford.

 

So Junmyeon had to make do often with making his own entertainment. One of the games that he liked to play as a child that continued into adulthood was to look at the waves, and pretend that each wave was a different mermaid tail, to see how long each tail would last before turning to sea foam, like the story his father would tell him before bedtime.

 

His mother made an abrupt turn on the road, causing his game to be paused while he tried to figure out why they had jerked. “You would think that some of these people would learn how to drive on these roads!”

 

“Mom, you do realize that they probably say the same thing about you? I’m sure if you asked them they would say that it was you who was the bad driver and not them.” Junmyeon said, putting his head in his hands as he looked out back towards the ocean.

 

“Of course they would say that! Everyone would say that they were a better driver than the other person! It’s human nature to be that way!” Yoona said gesturing wildly.

 

Junmyeon scoffed. “Yeah right.” Looking out at the waves again, he noticed that the waves were more agitated today, and he wondered if the waves were rough out at sea where his father was, or if it was only close to the island where it looked rough.

Junmyeon was jerked in his seat as his mom slammed on the breaks. “MOM What are you doing!” Junmyeon shrieked, as the tires squealed at the sudden stop.

 

“If I go too fast over this drop, then I’ll mess up the car and then we’ll be in even more trouble! Just trust me I’m the mom I can handle this much.” Yoona said waving Junmyeon off while carefully driving through the dip.

 

Luckily for Junmyeon, the senior center his mom worked at, and the daycare center that he recently started working for were right after driving through the portage.

 

Getting out of the car, he said goodbye to his mother as she ran away into the senior center, and he walked towards the sounds of laughter and shrieking children.

* * *

 

Taking his lunch break later in the day was not really the plan for Junmyeon, but he lost track of time as he was playing with the children, and before he knew it was nap time. Taking the time to eat outside while the children were sleeping, Junmyeon watched the waves as they hit the rocks, slowly flowing some of the trash in the water back and forth, and eventually getting caught by the rocks. Sighing, Junmyeon noticed a lot of convenience store bags were washing up on the shore, and got up to begin picking them up.

 

Upset by the carelessness of some of those who lived on the island, he thought about sending out more fliers to the city, to ensure they remembered that the sea turtles who lived near the island would confuse the bags in the water for the jellyfish they ate naturally.

 

Climbing down the stairs, he grabbed the nearest bag, and began to put all the other trash in it. As he made his way down the shoreline, he heard what sounded like humming coming from behind a rock, and made his way over to it, picking up trash along the way. As he got closer, the humming got louder, and Junmyeon began to second guess if he should interrupt whatever they were doing.

 

Standing still Junmyeon looked back and forth between the rock and his school, trying to decide which one he would go to. Thinking back to a time when his mom had to save him from a wave that washed him into the ocean, he decided to check and make sure that whoever was sitting there was well equipped in being able to save themselves.

* * *

 

Sehun hadn’t meant to spend so much time up in the surface world, but the colors that were in the sky as the moon went down and the sun rose up were so beautiful that Sehun felt like he had to stay long enough to see how it looked when the sun went down as well. Sitting on some rocks, he was basking in the sunlight, and singing a song his mom used to sing when she was able to stay around and not have to perform any duties.

 

With his head tilted back, Sehun had never felt an overall warmth as he was feeling now. However, that all changed when the sound of rocks being displaced with a thud, and a soft “oof” was heard. Panicking, Sehun tried to think of the shapes of humans that he had seen before, and remembered a close call that he had with a fisherman earlier that day, and chose his physique.

 

Studying his hands, he noticed a distinct lack of the webbing between his fingers, and the fins on his arms had disappeared, as well as his tail fin turning into weird sticks with arched ends. Flexing his appendages, he wondered how in the world he was supposed to use them when a shriek behind him caused him to slide into the incoming wave, and get soaked again.

 

“You- you’re naked! Why are you naked next to the water! Don’t you know there’s a school near by! What are you some type of pervert! Are you okay? Do you know where you are? Where are you clothes; did you just randomly appear here? Do you have anyone I can call, or anything?” Sehun looked up at the person who caused him fall into the water, and shielded his eyes as another wave knocked into him, causing him to scrape against the stone.

 

“No, actually I don’t.” Sehun said, his voice gravelly since his vocal chords had dried out, to accommodate the air, as opposed to the water.

 

“Oh my God, do you even know who you are? Do I need to call the ambulance? Do you need medical assistance, my mom doesn’t know much but she works at a senior center and I’m sure someone up there knows enough to be able to help you.”

Junmyeon reached down as he spoke grabbing Sehun’s hands, and pulling him up, turning red, as he tried not to look at anything aside from the younger boys face.

 

“Some things, to cover myself, like what you have, would be nice.” Was all Sehun said, as his legs wobbled from being used for the first time on land.

 

“Clothes, yes. My father keeps some clothes in my mothers car in case he needs an extra pair for anything, if you stay down here, out of sight, I’ll go get them for you so you can put them on. Just stay here okay?” Junmyeon motioned, with both hands open, as he walked away.

Sehun, now standing, took the time to rotate his legs this way and that, getting used to the feeling of them. Touching them, he noticed how smooth, but dry they were compared to his slick tail. Bending down, he noticed the way that his back felt, stretching this way and that, feeling how different his body felt in this new form. After standing for a while, he feet and legs began to hurt, and he wondered if the boy would return with clothes after all, or if he had just left him.

 

Pursing his lips, he turned his face back to the sun, and let the warm rays cover his body, thinking that even if the boy never came back, just sitting with the sun would feel just fine for him. However, his moment was once again ruined by the sound of a cough, and Sehun turned his eyes over to see Junmyeon holding clothes out towards him, with his eyes averted, towards the sea.

 

“Thank you.” Sehun said, grabbing the clothes.

 

“The underwear is in the middle, and I have the socks and shoes up at the top of the stairs, that way you don’t get them wet.” Junmyeon said, his arms falling to his side.

Struggling for a bit, Sehun was finally able to get his legs through the pants, after Junmyeon grabbed on to his arms to stabilize him, and began to put the shirt on.

 

The sweater, a soft fuzzy white fabric, had the soft scent of something, Sehun didn’t know what, but if he had to compare it to something from underwater, it would be the way the jellyfish were able to float in the water and look majestic.

 

Walking behind Junmyeon up the steps, he looked out over towards the water, and felt a welcoming breeze flow towards him, and then he felt and heard his stomach rumble.

 

Looking up at Junmyeon, Sehun asked softly, “Do you have anything I can eat too?”

 

Junmyeon looked back at Sehun and closed his eyes for a second and nodded. Motioning for Sehun to follow him towards the daycare center.

 

Junmyeon looked at his half eaten sandwich and then looked back at Sehun. While he was still hungry, there were only a few hours left until the daycare closed, so he didn’t see the harm in waiting the extra couple of hours until dinner. Looking apologetic over at Sehun, who was looking in turn at his own stomach, he sighed. “Listen, I’m sorry, but this is all I have to offer you right now. It’s a half eaten ham sandwich, but we can have more food for dinner when we get home.”

 

Sehun looked up and grabbed the sandwich from Junmyeon’s hands and looked it over. Grabbing a bit of bread, he slowly inserted some into his mouth, grimaced, and spit some out, and did the same with the cheese, lettuce, and tomato. Pouting as he got to the ham, he thought about whether or not he should try that as well, before putting a small amount in his mouth, and chewed. Doing an almost double take, he put another piece of ham in his mouth, and swallowed that as well.

 

Finally, taking the rest of the ham out of the sandwich, handing the left overs to junmyeon, Sehun pushed the entirety of the ham in his mouth, closing his eyes as he chewed, his cheeks puffed out as he savored the ham.

 

Looking down at the disheveled sandwich in his hand, Junmyeon laughed lightly before eating the rest of the sandwich, and began to talk to Sehun about his job and the kids he worked with.

* * *

 

 

Sehun was exhausted.

 

When Junmyeon had told him about the kids that he worked with, Sehun thought that they would be a lot like his siblings, and feeling such a bad bought of homesickness, he asked if he could come and help out with the kids. Unbeknownst to Sehun though, human children and merchildren are completely different in both how they play and how they act.

 

He had been crawled over, sat on, and tugged around just about every time he had tried to find safe harbor away from the kids, and the other teachers who were there laughed at his discomfort, and even sometimes helped the children catch him unaware and off guard.

 

The last child had just left, and Sehun was pouting in the middle of the floor as everyone else was cleaning up for the day.

 

“Well I heard a rumor that there was a new boy over here, but to think that he would have such a family resemblance is a shocker!” Sehun looked over and saw two old ladies staring at him from the door.

 

“Yerim he looks just like Changmin when he was a boy don’t you think?” One old lady said, opening the door wider.

 

“Sooyoung if you had told me they were brothers I would have agreed, even though I’ve known Yoona all her life!” The other lady said, now backing away and walking out the door.

 

“Those are some of the ladies that my mom works with at the senior center next door,” Junmyeon said, as he put away his broom and put his jacket on “I’ve known them practically since I was born, since I was always over here when mom was working.”

 

Sehun got up from his spot and began to follow Junmyeon out of the door, running back to grab his shoes and put them on. “So, does that mean that that Changmin guy they were talking about, was your father then?”

 

Junmyeon smiled and nodded “Yep that’s him! He’s a sailor, and my whole life growing up that’s what I wanted to be, I just love my mom too much to leave her just yet.”

 

Sehun nodded. “So, when do I meet them? Your mom and dad?”

 

“Well mom works right next door, she’s how we’re getting home, and my dad is supposed to dock tomorrow, but with the incoming storm, he might have to stay out at sea until it calms down.” Junmyeon said, his smile growing even more if possible.

Sehun looked over at Junmyeon excitedly. “The storm? There’s a storm coming?”

 

Sehun had only heard about storms from his father, in explanation as to why human trash had managed to infiltrate their safe haven. There were many times where Heechul had ranted and raved about the trash ‘islands’ that he had to spend so much magic on trying to remove and turn into other things that would benefit the ocean instead of destroy it that Sehun had always just assumed that his father secretly enjoyed the humans instead of hating them like he claimed.

 

“Yeah, my dad called in last night that since the seas coming close to the island were supposed to be rough that they didn’t want to risk bumping into anything they shouldn’t so they’re staying out an extra day.” Junmyeon said, walking up to the senior center and opening the door. “Come on, if we don’t pull mom out of whatever it is that she’s doing, we’ll be here all night.”

* * *

 

After waiting an extra fifteen minutes for Yoona to finish up, Sehun had managed to get roped into playing card games with a couple of old ladies, and Junmyeon was on guard to make sure that they didn’t scam Sehun out of any money.

 

“Junmyeon, sweetie, we won’t take advantage of this young boy, you don’t have to watch over him like a mother hen.” Sooyoung said while shuffling the cards.

 

“Sooyoung, you act like I’ve never played cards with you, you’ve easily stolen $1,000 from me in the past year.” Junmyeon crossed his arms and leaned back.

 

Yerim gasped dramatically, and looked at Junmyeon. “That is no way to speak to your elders.”

 

Just then, a bright flash of lightning illuminated the already bright room, followed by a horrendous clash of thunder causing the lights flickered and then turn off.

 

“Junmyeon, Sehun, we need to hurry if we want to beat this storm. Apparently down in the lower parts of the village it’s already flooding over the roads.” Yoona said, putting her rain coat on, and handing Sehun her umbrella.

 

Running out to the car, Sehun laughed at how wet he was getting, and ended up having to get dragged in to the car by Junmyeon.

* * *

 

“This is bad, this is very bad. Sehun is nowhere in the ocean! Nowhere! I can’t even feel him.” Heechul mumbled as he looked through various globes, trying to locate his son. After being able to keep an eye on him throughout the night and the early morning, Heechul was beginning to feel restless.

 

In a last ditch effort to find him, Heechul began to move his search up towards the surface, and tried to use the water up there to find him, and still had no such luck. By now, Heechul was very aggravated, and in an attempt to amplify his powers, he pulled sea water onto the land, to join with the rain, and suddenly, he was able to feel Sehun again.

 

While on the same island, he was farther up, and by the time Heechul had found him, all he saw was Sehun being pulled into a car, and the car speeding away.

 

Tearing his eyes away from the orb, Heechul had to force himself to take a couple of breaths before looking around frantically. Looking around the room, Heechul turned around, before finally spotting the speed potion, and a plan began to form. If Heechul could only get the sea water around Sehun, he’d be able to get Sehun to safety, and away from the humans.

 

Drinking more than he needed, Heechul dashed out of his study, and into the open waters, shooting to the surface, before running to the island that housed Junmyeon, Yoona, and Sehun.

* * *

 

As Yoona was driving, Junmyeon began to explain the concept of his game to Sehun. Sehun smiled and laughed softly at Junmyeon’s game, but decided that it was cute and that he wanted to try it.

 

As Sehun looked out into the ocean with Junmyeon, he began to notice the the waves were getting a lot bigger. After the crest of a particularly large wave, Sehun began to notice what looked like the crinkly red hair of his father.

 

As Sehun tried to think of a way to end the game so Junmyeon wouldn’t see him and freak out, suddenly, the car they were in fish tailed. Sehun fell into Junmyeon, and Junmyeon ended up falling down into the seats.

 

“Sorry guys, that wave almost took us out. Put your seatbelt’s on, because I have to drive fast to beat this storm home.” Yoona said, as she hunched over in the driver seat.

 

Scrambling up to but his seatbelt on, Junmyeon put his on, and then helped Sehun with his, just in time for their car to practically drift across a turn, causing Sehun to scream and to hold on to Junmyeon.

 

“Listen Mom’s normally a bad driver, but it’s never been anything like this before, I’m sorry.” Junmyeon said clutching tightly onto Sehun.

 

Sehun just looked wide eyed at Junmyeon. “I think I might be sick.”

 

“It’s okay boys, just a couple more minutes and we’ll be there okay?” Yoona said, pushing her foot down on the pedal even more.

 

“Have you ever seen a storm this bad here before? With waves this big? I don’t think I ever have.” Junmyeon said, looking towards his mom.

 

Yoona’s eyes looked back at him through the rear view mirror and she shook her head. “Of course kid, I’ve lived here all my life!” She said, with fake enthusiasm.

 

Just as Sehun was beginning to turn green, their car screeched to a stop, and Sehun fell out of the car, and laid there in the rain as Junmyeon came out.

 

“Come on you guys, let’s get in the house and make some tea. My nerves need a cup.”

 

After heating up the water for tea, Yoona told the boys she was making dinner, and asked Junmyeon into the kitchen to help for a bit. He came back out and motioned for Sehun to join him in the kitchen, and Yoona asked him if he wanted anything special in his meal.

 

Sehun shrugged and said that whatever she made, would most likely be the first time he had it, and that he didn’t really have a preference, when Junmyeon interrupted and said that Sehun had stuffed his face full of ham at the daycare.

 

Yoona laughed as she got the noodles out, and made dinner.

 

Sehun had never tasted these flavors before in his life. Yoona had gone above and beyond once Junmyeon made Sehun admit that he only ate the ham in his ham sandwich, and she had surprised Sehun with a ham ramyun. He had never heard of it before in his life, but now he knew what heaven tasted like, and he could not have been happier.

 

An hour earlier, Yoona had received a call from the senior center, begging her to come back down, because they had to evacuate the seniors, and there weren’t enough people there to do it. Sehun and Junmyeon had helped Yoona pack, with Sehun eventually just sitting back and letting Junmyeon pack after he got scolded for packing yet another thing that would be impractical (A blender, and toaster, respectively).

 

Finally coming out with her last bag, this one full of towels, she kissed Junmyeon on the head, and did the same to Sehun. “Okay boys, I’ll try and be back before daylight, but if I can’t I’ll call okay? So don’t stay up too late alright?”

 

Junmyeon hugged her tightly, and nodded. “Okay Mom. Be safe on the drive down, and if you can’t drive through, then just come back and wait till morning.” 

* * *

 

Sleeping peacefully on the sofa, Sehun groaned when the light began to shine on his face. Rolling over, Sehun ended up falling off of the sofa, and landed with a thud. Not moving, Sehun continued to just rest on the floor, before opening his eyes and looking at his arm next to his hand.

 

Noticing that there was slight webbing between his fingers, and a little bit of his fin popping out on his arm, he concentrated really hard to focus his magic into turning him back human. Laying his head back on the floor, Sehun closed his eyes and sighed.

 

Resting for a few more minutes, Sehun finally pushed himself off of the floor, and looked out the window to look at the ocean.

 

The sea was so calm, that even the small waves that did come ever feather light. The sky was clear of any clouds, and the sun was shining brightly. For a moment, Sehun felt like he was back at home, and his brothers and sisters would burst into his room at any moment, but that feeling shattered the moment Junmyeon started talking.

 

“Ughh, Sehun, what time is it?” Junmyeon said, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

 

“I don’t know” Sehun said, looking back at Junmyeon. “You never showed me where to find it.”

 

Junmyeon smiled at Sehun and walked over to the sliding glass window that Sehun was looking out of.

 

“There must be some serious flooding in the town if it’s flooded even up here.” Junmyeon sighed, while looking out at the water. “I hope Mom made it to the center okay.”

 

Junmyeon turned sharply to Sehun. “Wait, Sehun did you hear the phone ring at all last night?”

 

Sehun shrugged. “I thought you said that all electronics don’t work if the power is out?”

 

Junmyeon sighed again. “Yeah, I guess you’re right… Mom made it out there okay, and we didn’t hear from her because the power went out, that’s all. She’s fine.”

 

Sehun looked up at Junmyeon. “Why don’t we just go out and find her then?”

 

Junmyeon moved to sit down next to Sehun and lean on him. “We don’t have any real boats. Only the toy ones my father brought back for me when I was younger.”

 

Sehun nibbled on his lip for a bit before looking hard at Junmyeon. “Go get one, one that you would actually use if it was a real boat, to go get your mom.”

 

Junmyeon looked confused at Sehun. “What?”

 

“Go get a boat.” Sehun repeated, motioning his arm away from where they were, and towards the room.

 

Junmyeon looked confused, but got up and walked to his room, and came out with two separate boats.

 

“If I had to choose a boat, I’d choose on of these. Although for this one,” Junmyeon motioned to a speed boat, “would require oil, and in this theoretical situation, we don’t have any, so it would have to be the pop pop boat, because of the candle.” Junmyeon said, putting both the boats on the floor.

 

Sehun nodded. “Okay then, lets pack the stuff that we would need to find your mom. Candles, ham, whatever else.”

 

Junmyeon looked at Sehun confused, but began to do as he said. 

* * *

 

After getting all their things packed, Sehun made Junmyeon put the boat in the water. Walking out into the water, Sehun pushed the toy boat out until he felt like it would be deep enough for Sehun and Junmyeon to be able to get on, but also be able to not be beached.

 

Sehun bent over the boat, and concentrated, and strained, but nothing happened. Wrinkling his eyebrows, Sehun planted his feet more firmly into the ground, and felt the dirt and sand between his toes, and really concentrated.

 

This time, Sehun could feel his powers working, and changing the boat. He opened his eyes as the last bits of his spell changed the boat, and watched his hands go from their almost natural webbed shape, back into human hands, and turned back to smile triumphantly at Junmyeon.

 

“Sehun what was that? What did you do? How did you do it? Can I do that?” Junmyeon asked, running as fast as he could through the water towards Sehun.

 

Sehun laughed and started to get into the boat. “No Junmyeon, even if you tried for 100 years, I don’t think you could get close!”

 

Junmyeon smiled up at Sehun and then followed him on to the boat, and then yelled in excitement. “Whoa! Even the candle changed size! Sehun this is amazing!”

 

Junmyeon looked back at Sehun excitedly, and then began to frown. “That just means we need to blow into the tubes that much more.”

 

Sehun smiled brightly at Junmyeon, “Well we better get started then!”

 

As Junmyeon and Sehun bent over to blow into the tubes that connected to the handle, Sehun conjured up more of his powers, and blew hard into the pipe, causing an audible pop.

 

Junmyeon jumped up and looked over at Sehun, who simply shrugged, and dug into their bag to hand Junmyeon the matches for the boat. As Junmyeon walked over to the candle, he smiled incredulously, and shook his head.

 

As the candle lit, Sehun walked over to watch what happened. Junmyeon had explained earlier how this boat was supposed to work, and Sehun as eager to find out and see how it would go exactly.

 

Sehun’s eyes grew wide as the candle’s flame caused the metal above it to pop, which then caused the boat to lurch. As it got hotter, the metal began to pop even more, and eventually evolved into a steady pop, allowing the boat to move smoothly.

 

“Is this why it’s called a pop pop boat Junmyeon?” Sehun asked looking back at Junmyeon as he steered.

 

Junmyeon nodded and smiled. “Yeah, the thin metal circle above the candle expands and causes the boat to push water out of one of the tubes, causing a pop when all the water goes out and then comes back in.”

* * *

 

As Junmyeon traveled farther and farther down the island, he began to get really nervous for his mom. Although he teased her constantly about her driving habits, she really did sometimes not pay attention to the things around her, and caused more trouble than not. He was worried that maybe Yoona decided to ignore all the warning signs around her that said that the water was rising too fast, and that when he saw her again, she would be in a car feet underwater, with determination on her face.

 

However, every time he got too deep into his worries, Sehun was there to pull him out, to give him hope that his mother had survived her whole life previously without his father and him, and that she would have been able to survive this too. And for that, Junmyeon would be forever grateful.

 

Although Sehun hadn’t been around him for long, and they had only really known each other for only a day and a half, the way that they connected and were able to mesh with each other, made it feel like they grew up together. And the only times Junmyeon was really reminded that Sehun was something else was when he asked Junmyeon questions like “Junmyeon, if nobody wantsto drive slow, then why do they obey the signs?” or “Do all humans really like eating all this green leafy stuff?” when Junmyeon was having to explain his ‘Sandy what’s a sal-lad?’ joke to Sehun.

 

But above all that, Junmyeon had already considered him his brother. When he woke up that morning, and saw Sehun with him in the living room, an ache in his heart both healed and doubled, as he remembered all the times as a young child he desperately wished for a younger sibling to play with.

 

So now, on this boat that Sehun had magicked to be bigger and faster to find his mother, Junmyeon wondered how he would ever be able to repay Sehun, because although it was such a short amount of time, Sehun had managed to worm his way into Junmyeon’s heart, and Junmyeon never wanted him to leave.

* * *

 

As Junmyeon was silent in thought, Sehun was laying down on top of the boat, watching the clouds go by in the sky. Sehun had no words to describe the fluffiness of the clouds aside from the fact that if he thought about laying on them, he would imagine himself smothered in softness. While he was cloud watching though, his stomach began to rumble, very loudly. Rolling over, Sehun looked down from his vantage point, at Junmyeon. “Hey Junmyeon, what do we have to eat?”

 

Junmyeon didn’t hear him at first, so Sehun reached his hand down to poke him on top of his head, causing Junmyeon to look up at him.

 

“Junmyeon. What do we have to eat.” Sehun said, while continuing to tap Junmyeon’s head.

 

Junmyeon reached down into the pack by his feet, and handed Sehun a couple of sandwiches that he had packed for them. “Here, I made us some ham sandwiches, eat those ones.”

 

Sehun reached down and brought the sandwiches to his perch, that way he could lay back down and watch the clouds. Opening up one sandwich, he pursed his lips as he saw all the nasty stuff that he didn’t like packed on top of the ham. Picking everything apart, and finding just the ham, Sehun laid back down, and chomped away, as the clouds above him flew past.

 

After eating all the meat from the two sandwiches Junmyeon had given him, Sehun put the sandwiches back together, and handed them back down to Junmyeon who looked confused.

 

“But… didn’t you say-” Junmyeon stopped mid sentence, realizing that if Sehun was handing Junmyeon these sandwiches back that the meat, and only the meat, had been eaten, and put them back that way he would be able to eat them when they found his mom.

 

As they sailed on, Junmyeon noticed that the candle was getting low, and pulled out a new one from his backpack. and hopped up to where Sehun was.

 

“Hey Sehun, I need you to come and change out the candles and make this one bigger so we can keep going.”

 

Sehun got up from where he was laying, and followed Junmyeon down. After moving the old candle out, and putting the smaller new candle in, Sehun wrapped his hands around it, and concentrated on his magic filling the candle to transform it. Struggling more than he did this morning, Sehun strained harder, focusing more magic into the candle to force it to change, causing Sehun to momentarily be more merfish than human, and transforming back slowly once the candle changed.

 

Backing away slowly from the candle, he languidly climbed back onto the top of the boat, where he laid down, and covered his eyes for a nap.

* * *

 

As Junmyeon steered the boat, he finally began to realize where they were headed, and breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn’t used to looking up at the trees as his mom drove the car, however the clearing around them looked he was getting close to his and Yoona’s work.

 

Since he was so focused on keeping an eye out for any familiar landmarks, and also Yoona’s car, he didn’t really notice that the boat was getting smaller, little by little. It wasn’t until Sehun’s arm was dangling right in front of his eye sight that he realized that the boat was actually getting smaller, and it wasn’t his imagination.

 

Panicking, and not wanting the boat to turn back into a toy in the middle of the water, he began pulling Sehun’s arm, but he wouldn’t wake up. Deciding not to waste any more time, he put the candle right under the engine to speed the boat up, and grabbed a paddle to help out.

 

The boat was getting smaller by the second, but thankfully, Junmyeon was close enough to higher ground that even if the boat did turn back into a toy too early, Junmyeon would be able to keep Sehun from drowning.

 

Jumping out of the boat to prevent the boat from going underwater, Junmyeon grabbed Sehun, and put him on his back, and walked towards the dry ground, trying to keep a steady step so he wouldn’t slip. Panting, Junmyeon tried not to dump Sehun too hard onto the ground once they got there, and laid down next to him to catch his breath.

 

Jolted by the drop, Sehun opened his eyes and rubbed them, looking around to figure out what had happened. Getting up, he looked sleepily over at Junmyeon before sleepily doing a come here motion towards the water, to bring Junmyeon’s toy boat with their now miniaturized belongings onto the shore with them.

 

Smiling over at Junmyeon, Sehun picked up the boat, got himself up, and then reached down to pull Junmyeon up himself.

 

“Well, as my mother always said, let’s get moving before the moray eel bites!” Sehun said with a gravelly voice from sleep, but with renewed energy.

 

Junmyeon looked confused at Sehun’s back as he walked away from him. “Before the moray eel.. bites?”

 

Sehun turned around, confusion now on his face. “Yes? Don’t you know the saying? It means let’s hurry up.”

* * *

 

 

Junmyeon pursed his lips in a pout and followed behind Sehun. 

As they walked on, Sehun began to get tired again, and began to feel very hot. Although he was walking in the shade, he felt like he could actively feel the sun drying his skin out. He tried complaining about it once to Junmyeon, but Junmyeon hadn’t really been paying attention, and Sehun figured that the worry that he felt for his mom would be more important than whatever it was that Sehun was feeling.

 

A while back, Junmyeon had passed, and then gotten in front of Sehun. Day dreaming about water, Sehun had not realized that Junmyeon had stopped walking, until Sehun bumped right into his back. Looking around him to see why he had stopped, Sehun noticed that in front of them was Yoona’s car, but she was not in it.

 

Sehun looked at Junmyeon, who was effectively frozen in his spot. He didn’t look like he was breathing, and Sehun wasn’t sure when the last time he blinked was. Grabbing onto Junmyeon’s hand, and marching up to the car, with Junmyeon in tow, Sehun looked inside.

 

Noticing that everything inside the car looked fine, and nothing looked damaged, Sehun looked over at Junmyeon, who was still staring straight ahead, with a blank stare.

 

“Junmyeon, your mother is fine. Look inside she’s not there.” Sehun said, tugging on Junmyeon’s arm.

 

“Why isn’t she in the car Sehun.” Junmyeon asked, still staring blankly ahead. “This area is dry, she would’ve been able to drive to work. Why did she get out.”

 

Sehun hit Junmyeon’s back this time. “Snap out of it Junmyeon! She’s not here stop being so dramatic, she probably felt it was safer to walk or something I don’t know! We won’t know until we go to the old folks place to find out anyway.”

 

Junmyeon looked at Sehun, but this time he really looked at him, and then nodded. “Okay Sehun. Okay”.

 

As they walked up the hill hand in hand, Sehun felt pressure suddenly mounting on top of him. As he wondered what the feeling would be described as, the best he could get was that if he were to imagine the weight of the world pressing down upon him, that’s what it would feel like. As they got closer to whatever it was, Sehun felt more pressure and weight, until eventually, with an audible pop, they passed through whatever it was, and the sounds of what sounded like an entire village came to their ears.

 

Sehun and Junmyeon both looked at each other, before running up the rest of the hill, and towards the noise.

 

Catching their breaths outside of Yoona’s work, Junmyeon hesitantly opened up the door to the senior center, and walking through to find where everyone was. What they saw however, caused Sehun to gasp, and for Junmyeon to clutch his chest.

 

In the middle of the backyard, Heechul, in all his awkward glory, was helping the ladies who were unable to walk without assistance dance to the sound of the music that was playing, stopping every once in a while to pump sea water onto himself to stop from drying out. Yoona, was talking to Yerim and Sooyoung under the shade of a tree, and giving them a blanket to cover up from the slight chill.

 

Sehun grabbed Junmyeon’s hand, and looked over at him, smiling. “Come on, let’s go see your mom”

 

Nodding, Junmyeon grabbed on tighter to Sehun’s hand as he walked over to his mom, only to be intercepted by Heechul.

 

Junmyeon moved to stand in front of Sehun as the man stared him down, until Sehun tugged on his arm. “Junmyeon, this is my father, Heechul.”

 

Junmyeon looked back at Sehun shocked. “What? He’s your what?”

 

Sehun nodded. “Yes, the creepy looking man that is staring you down, is actually my father.”

 

“Junmyeon, Sehun, come over here so we can talk!” Yoona yelled across the yard, causing Junmyeon to cringe but smile, and Heechul to scowl.

 

As they walked over to Yoona, She ran the rest of the way over to them, grabbing both Junmyeon and Sehun in a big group hug, and kissing both of them on their temples.

 

“How did you guys manage to make it over here? Last I heard almost all the roads were covered with water and I know that you’re not that strong of a swimmer Junmyeon.” Yoona said, stepping back and looking Junmyeon over.

 

Junmyeon looked over at Sehun and winked. “Sehun managed to find us a boat to get over here.”

Yoona looked over at Sehun and smiled and pulled him into another hug. “Thank you for taking care of my Junmyeon Sehun. I don’t know what I would have done without you there to make sure he was okay.”

 

Sehun smiled and hugged her back, but their cute moment was interrupted by Heechul. “This is all good, but now Sehun is here so it is time for us to go.” He said, Grabbing the back of Sehun’s sweater, and pulling him away from Yoona and Sehun.

 

Junmyeon looked on in horror as Sehun was being dragged away from him, and looked at his mom who just shrugged her shoulder and shook her head to indicate she did not understand either. Junmyeon looked back at Sehun and Heechul and made eye contact with Sehun, before running over to them.

 

“You can’t just take Sehun away from me like that! He’s apart of our family now, and you didn’t even ask him if he wanted to stay with us or not!” Junmyeon yelled at Heechul, while grabbing Sehun’s hands.

 

Heechul stopped and looked back at Junmyeon. “Why would Sehun want to stay on dry land with humans when he could live in the ocean and do magic freely? Why would he want to give it all up just to live a life here?”

 

Junmyeon’s eyes began to tear up, as he looked between Heechul and Sehun. “Because, he has us. My mother, me, and eventually my father too. He has us that’s why he would stay with us.”

 

Heechul turned around fully now, and looked at Sehun. “Sehun, what is it that you want to do?” He asked.

 

Sehun looked back and forth between his father and Junmyeon for a couple of minutes, thinking on his life back in the ocean with his brothers and sisters, and his brief life that he had on the surface world. Chewing on his bottom lip, Sehun suddenly threw his arms around his father, hugging him tightly.

 

“Father, please, I would like to stay up here with Junmyeon and his family.” Sehun whispered into his fathers chest.

 

Heechul stood their stiffly, before hugging Sehun back just as fiercely, and ran his fingers through his hair, before looking at Junmyeon. “If Sehun is to stay here on the surface world, he would have to turn human. If he turns human it means that he will no longer be able to use any magic, to come back to me, us.”

 

Junmyeon looked over his shoulder at Yoona, as she moved to stand behind him, putting her hand on him. “We would both, very much like Sehun to stay with us. I already feel like Sehun is my son, and I am very sure that Junmyeon already thinks of Sehun as a brother.”

 

Heechul nodded as he backed away from Sehun, still holding hands with him. As Heechul closed his eyes, a soft glow began to emit from their hands, as a small tornado began to form around them, eventually leaving and fading, leaving Sehun human.

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this in the middle of September, after being convinced that it needed to get written with two separate pairings, with my job writing the SeHo pairing. If you read this one first, and see another EXO pairing with a similar concept, I didn't plagiarize, it was just an idea a friend and I came up with.


End file.
